WeWork and Poetry

This week's newsletter is made of video and voice. Text will resume next week. I am sending this from my new website, which you are very welcome to visit and share: DrorPoleg.com.

WeWork in Public

WeWork is rumored to be looking at going public again. The WSJ reports that the company is in discussions with more than one group about merging with an existing SPAC. I teamed up with my friend Packy McCormick on the Not Boring Podcast to explore the company's tumultuous history and possibly rosy future.

Listen below or click here.

A Decade of Passionate Intensity

William Butler Yeats wrote that "The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity". He talked about people, but the same poem could have been written about office buildings: historically, investors loved assets that were boring, standardized, and could accommodate anyone and everyone.

In the 2020s, this approach is not going to work. In the future, winning places — cities, offices, residential communities — will be those that are made with "passionate intensity," with a point of view, with a direct connection to a specific group of people (and no one else).

What does this mean in practice? I covered all this and more in a keynote I gave at CBRE Ireland's Market Outlook event earlier this month. The video is available below and here.

Have a great weekend.

Dror